Bill Text: NY A07127 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Provides for certain commercial small businesses to be eligible for relief under the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021".

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-06-17 - signed chap.154 [A07127 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A07127-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7127

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     April 23, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Judiciary

        AN ACT to amend a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating  to  establishing
          the  "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", in
          relation to providing for certain commercial small  businesses  to  be
          eligible  for  relief  under the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small
          Businesses Act of 2021"

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Section  3  of  a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating to
     2  establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of
     3  2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 471-A and A. 3207, is
     4  amended to read as follows:
     5    § 3. Legislative intent. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
     6  following:
     7    On March 7, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed a state of emergen-
     8  cy in response to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.  Measures
     9  necessary  to  contain  the  spread of COVID-19 have brought about wide-
    10  spread economic and societal disruption, placing the state of  New  York
    11  in unprecedented circumstances.
    12    COVID-19 presents a historic threat to small businesses and commercial
    13  property  owners.  Thousands of small businesses and commercial property
    14  owners are facing eviction  or  foreclosure  due  to  necessary  disease
    15  control  measures that closed or restricted businesses across the state.
    16  The pandemic has further interrupted court operations, the  availability
    17  of  counsel, the ability for parties to pay for counsel, and the ability
    18  to safely commute and enter a courtroom, settlement conference  and  the
    19  like.
    20    Ensuring  small  businesses and commercial property owners can survive
    21  in this unprecedented time is to the mutual benefit of all  New  Yorkers
    22  and will help the state address the pandemic, protect public health, and

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07084-06-1

        A. 7127                             2

     1  set  the stage for recovery. It is, therefore, the intent of this legis-
     2  lation to avoid as many evictions and foreclosures of  small  businesses
     3  as  possible for businesses experiencing a financial hardship during the
     4  COVID-19 pandemic.
     5    As  such,  it  is  necessary  to  temporarily  allow  small businesses
     6  impacted by COVID-19 to remain in their place of business.   A  limited,
     7  temporary  stay  is  necessary  to protect the public health, safety and
     8  morals of the people the Legislature represents from the dangers of  the
     9  COVID-19 emergency pandemic.
    10    §  2. Section 1 of part A of a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating to
    11  establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of
    12  2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 471-A and A. 3207, is
    13  amended to read as follows:
    14    Section 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this act:    1.  "Eviction
    15  proceeding"  means  a  summary  proceeding to recover possession of real
    16  property  under  article  seven  of  the  real  property   actions   and
    17  proceedings  law  relating to a commercial unit or any other judicial or
    18  administrative proceeding to recover possession of real property  relat-
    19  ing to a commercial unit.
    20    2.  "Landlord" includes a landlord, owner of a commercial property and
    21  any other person with a  legal  right  to  pursue  eviction,  possessory
    22  action  or  a  money  judgment for rent, including arrears, owed or that
    23  becomes due during the COVID-19 covered period, as defined in section  1
    24  of chapter 127 of the laws of 2020.
    25    3.  "Tenant"  includes  a  commercial tenant that is a resident of the
    26  state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its  field  and
    27  either  employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commercial
    28  tenant's business was closed to in-person operations by executive  order
    29  or  department of health directive for two or more weeks between May 15,
    30  2020 and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons.
    31    4. "Hardship declaration" means the following statement, or a substan-
    32  tially equivalent statement in the  language  in  which  the  commercial
    33  lease  or tenancy agreement was written or negotiated, in 14-point type,
    34  published by the office of court administration, whether in physical  or
    35  electronic written form:
    36    "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL TENANT:  If you have lost significant revenue or
    37  had  significantly increased necessary costs during the COVID-19 pandem-
    38  ic, and you sign and deliver this  hardship  declaration  form  to  your
    39  landlord,  you  cannot be evicted until at least May 1, 2021 for nonpay-
    40  ment of rent or for holding over after the expiration of your lease. You
    41  may still be evicted for violating your lease by persistently and unrea-
    42  sonably engaging in behavior that substantially infringes on the use and
    43  enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or causes a  substantial  safety
    44  hazard to others.
    45    If  your  landlord has provided you with this form, your landlord must
    46  also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which  you
    47  can  return  this form. If your landlord has already started an eviction
    48  proceeding against you, you can return this form to  either  your  land-
    49  lord,  the court, or both at any time. You should keep a copy or picture
    50  of the signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid  rent
    51  to  your landlord. [You should also] To the extent you can pay less than
    52  the full rent, it is recommended you do so and  keep  careful  track  of
    53  what you have paid and any amount you still owe.

    54           COMMERCIAL TENANT'S DECLARATION OF HARDSHIP DURING THE
    55                              COVID-19 PANDEMIC

        A. 7127                             3

     1  I  am  the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer
     2  of (name of business), in which is a commercial tenant  at  (address  of
     3  commercial  unit).  My business is resident in New York state, independ-
     4  ently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and either  employs
     5  [fifty]  one  hundred  or fewer persons, or, the commercial business was
     6  closed to in-person operations  by  executive  order  or  department  of
     7  health  directive  for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 1,
     8  2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons.  My business is experi-
     9  encing financial hardship, and is unable to pay  the  rent  in  full  or
    10  other  financial obligations under the lease in full or obtain an alter-
    11  native suitable commercial property  because  of  one  or  more  of  the
    12  following:
    13    1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    14    2.  Significant  increase  in  necessary expenses related to providing
    15  personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and  installing
    16  other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with-
    17  in the business.
    18    3.  Moving  expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer-
    19  cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another
    20  location during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    21    To the extent the business has lost revenue or had increased expenses,
    22  any public assistance the business has received since the start  of  the
    23  COVID-19  pandemic [does] must not fully make up for the business's loss
    24  of revenue or increased expenses,  and  the  business  still  meets  the
    25  aforementioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship.

    26  I  understand  that the business must comply with all other lawful terms
    27  under its commercial tenancy, lease agreement  or  similar  contract.  I
    28  further  understand  that  lawful  fees,  penalties  or interest for not
    29  having paid rent in full or met other financial obligations as  required
    30  by the commercial tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract may still
    31  be  charged  or  collected  and  may  result in a monetary judgment.   I
    32  further understand that the landlord may be able to seek eviction  after
    33  May  1,  2021,  and that the law may provide certain protections at that
    34  time that are separate from those available through this declaration.

    35  Signed:
    36  Printed name:
    37  Date signed:

    38  NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty  of  law.
    39  That  means  it is against the law to make a statement on this form that
    40  you know is false."
    41    § 3. Sections 1 and 2 of subpart A of part B of a chapter of the  laws
    42  of  2021  relating  to  establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our
    43  Small Businesses Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills  numbers
    44  S.  471-A and A. 3207, are amended to read as follows:
    45    Section  1.  Application.  This  section  shall apply to any action to
    46  foreclose a mortgage relating to commercial real property, provided  the
    47  owner  or  mortgagor of such property owns ten or fewer commercial units
    48  whether directly or indirectly and is a business that is resident in New
    49  York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field,
    50  and either employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commer-
    51  cial tenant's business was closed to in-person operations  by  executive
    52  order  or  department  of health directive for two or more weeks between
    53  May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons.

        A. 7127                             4

     1  The ten or fewer commercial units may be in more than  one  property  or
     2  building as long as the total aggregate number of ten units are current-
     3  ly occupied by a tenant or are available for rent.
     4    Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, this act shall not apply to,
     5  and does not affect any mortgage loans made, insured, purchased or secu-
     6  ritized by a corporate governmental agency of the state constituted as a
     7  political  subdivision and public benefit corporation, or the rights and
     8  obligations of any lender, issuer, servicer or  trustee  of  such  obli-
     9  gations.
    10    § 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, "Hardship Declaration"
    11  means  the following statement in 14-point type, published by the office
    12  of court administration, whether in physical or electronic written form:
    13    "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant  revenue
    14  or  had  significantly  increased  necessary  costs  during the COVID-19
    15  pandemic, and you sign and deliver this  hardship  declaration  form  to
    16  your  mortgage  lender  or  other foreclosing party, you cannot be fore-
    17  closed on until at least May 1, 2021.
    18    If your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party provided  you  with
    19  this  form,  the  mortgage  lender  or other foreclosing party must also
    20  provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which  you  can
    21  return this form. If you are already in foreclosure proceedings, you may
    22  return  this form to the court. You should keep a copy or picture of the
    23  signed form for your records. You will still  owe  any  unpaid  mortgage
    24  payments  and  lawful  fees to your lender. You should also keep careful
    25  track of what you have paid and any amount you still owe.
    26        COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR'S DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP
    27    I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer
    28  of (name of the business), which is the mortgagor  of  the  property  at
    29  (address  of  commercial  unit).   My business owns, whether directly or
    30  indirectly, ten or fewer commercial units.  My business is  resident  in
    31  New  York  State,  independently owned and operated, not dominant in its
    32  field, and either employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or,  the
    33  commercial  business  was  closed  to  in-person operations by executive
    34  order or department of health directive for two or  more  weeks  between
    35  May  15,  2020,  and  May  1,  2021,  and  employs five hundred or fewer
    36  persons. My business is experiencing financial hardship and is unable to
    37  pay the mortgage in full because of one or more of the following:
    38    1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    39    2. Significant increase in necessary  expenses  related  to  providing
    40  personal  protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing
    41  other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with-
    42  in the business.
    43    3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an  alternative  commer-
    44  cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another
    45  property during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    46    4.  One  or  more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif-
    47  icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020.
    48    To the extent that the business has  lost  revenue  or  had  increased
    49  expenses,  any  public  assistance  the  business has received since the
    50  start of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for the business's
    51  loss of revenue or increased expenses.
    52    I understand that the business must comply with all other lawful terms
    53  under my commercial mortgage agreement. I further understand that lawful
    54  fees, penalties or interest for not having paid the mortgage in full  as
    55  required  by  the  commercial mortgage agreement may still be charged or
    56  collected and may result in a monetary judgment.  I also understand that

        A. 7127                             5

     1  the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party may pursue a  foreclosure
     2  action  against  the business on or after May 1, 2021, if I do not fully
     3  repay any missed or partial payments and lawful fees.
     4  Signed:
     5  Printed Name:
     6  Date Signed:
     7  NOTICE:  You  are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law.
     8  That means it is against the law to make a statement on this  form  that
     9  you know is false."
    10    §  4. Sections 1 and 2 of subpart B of part B of a chapter of the laws
    11  of 2021 relating to establishing the  "COVID-19  Emergency  Protect  Our
    12  Small  Businesses Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers
    13  S.  471-A and A. 3207, are amended to read as follows:
    14    Section 1. Application. This act shall apply to any  action  to  fore-
    15  close on delinquent taxes or sell a tax lien relating to commercial real
    16  property,  provided  the owner or mortgagor of such property owns ten or
    17  fewer commercial units whether directly or indirectly and is a  business
    18  that  is  resident  in New York State, independently owned and operated,
    19  not dominant in its field, and either employs  [fifty]  one  hundred  or
    20  fewer persons, or, the commercial business was closed to in-person oper-
    21  ations  by  executive order or department of health directive for two or
    22  more weeks between May 15, 2020  and  May  1,  2021,  and  employs  five
    23  hundred  or  fewer  persons. The ten or fewer commercial units may be in
    24  more than one property or building as long as the  units  are  currently
    25  occupied by a tenant or are available for rent.
    26    §  2.  Definitions.  For  purposes of this act: 1. "Tax lien" means an
    27  unpaid tax, special ad valorem levy, special assessment or other  charge
    28  imposed upon real property by or on behalf of a municipal corporation or
    29  special  district  or  other public or private entity which is an encum-
    30  brance on real property, whether or not evidenced by a  written  instru-
    31  ment.
    32    2.  "Tax  foreclosure  and tax lien sale" shall mean any such tax lien
    33  sale or tax foreclosure pursuant to article 11 of the real property  tax
    34  law,  or  any general, special or local law related to real property tax
    35  lien sales or real property tax foreclosures.
    36    3. "Hardship Declaration" means the following  statement  in  14-point
    37  type, whether in physical or electronic written form:
    38         "COMMERCIAL OWNER DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP
    39  I  am  the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer
    40  of (name of the business), which is the owner of the commercial property
    41  at (address).  My business owns, whether directly or indirectly, ten  or
    42  fewer  commercial  units.    My  business is resident in New York State,
    43  independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and  either
    44  employs  [fifty]  one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commercial busi-
    45  ness was closed to in-person operations by executive order or department
    46  of health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020  and  May
    47  1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons. My business is expe-
    48  riencing  financial  hardship,  and  is  unable to pay its full tax bill
    49  because of one or more of the following:
    50    1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    51    2. Significant increase in necessary  expenses  related  to  providing
    52  personal  protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing
    53  other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with-
    54  in the business.

        A. 7127                             6

     1    3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an  alternative  commer-
     2  cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another
     3  property during the COVID-19 pandemic.
     4    4.  One  or  more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif-
     5  icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020.
     6    To the extent that the business has  lost  revenue  or  had  increased
     7  expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the
     8  start  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic [does] must not fully make up for the
     9  loss of revenue or increased expenses, and the business still meets  the
    10  aforementioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship.
    11    I  understand  that  lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having
    12  paid the business's taxes in full may still be charged or collected  and
    13  may  result in a foreclosure action against the business on or after May
    14  1, 2021, if the business does not fully  repay  any  missed  or  partial
    15  payments and fees.
    16  Signed:
    17  Printed Name:
    18  Date Signed:
    19  NOTICE:  You  are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law.
    20  That means it is against the law to make a statement on this  form  that
    21  you know is false."
    22    § 5. Section 1 of subpart C of part B of a chapter of the laws of 2021
    23  relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Busi-
    24  nesses  Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.  471-A
    25  and A. 3207, is amended to read as follows:
    26    Section 1. Application. 1. This act shall apply to an owner of commer-
    27  cial real property, provided the owner or  mortgagor  of  such  property
    28  owns ten or fewer commercial units whether directly or indirectly and is
    29  a  business  that is resident in New York State, independently owned and
    30  operated, not dominant in its field,  and  either  employs  [fifty]  one
    31  hundred  or  fewer  persons,  or,  the commercial business was closed to
    32  in-person operations by executive order or department of  health  direc-
    33  tive  for  two  or  more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021, and
    34  employs five hundred or fewer persons. The ten or fewer commercial units
    35  may be in more than one property or building as long as the total aggre-
    36  gate number of ten units are currently  occupied  by  a  tenant  or  are
    37  available for rent.
    38    2.  Hardship declaration. For purposes of this act, "hardship declara-
    39  tion" shall mean the following statement in 14-point  type,  whether  in
    40  physical  or  electronic  written  form, and the department of financial
    41  services shall publish  a  copy  of  the  hardship  declaration  on  its
    42  website:
    43    "NOTICE  TO  COMMERCIAL  OWNER/MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant
    44  revenue or had  significantly  increased  necessary  costs  due  to  the
    45  COVID-19  pandemic,  and  you sign and deliver this hardship declaration
    46  form to your lending institution, you cannot be discriminated against in
    47  the determination of whether credit should be extended or reported nega-
    48  tively to a credit reporting agency until at least May 1, 2021.
    49    If a lending institution provided you  with  this  form,  the  lending
    50  institution  must  also  provide  you  with a mailing address and e-mail
    51  address to which you can return this form. You should  keep  a  copy  or
    52  picture of the signed form for your records.
    53    COMMERCIAL OWNER/MORTGAGOR DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP
    54    I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer
    55  of  (name of the business), which is the OWNER/MORTGAGOR of the property
    56  at (address of commercial unit).  My business owns, whether directly  or

        A. 7127                             7

     1  indirectly,  ten  or fewer commercial units.  My business is resident in
     2  New York State, independently owned and operated, not  dominant  in  its
     3  field,  and either employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the
     4  commercial  business  was  closed  to  in-person operations by executive
     5  order or department of health directive for two or  more  weeks  between
     6  May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons.
     7  My business is experiencing financial hardship, and is unable to pay the
     8  mortgage in full because of one or more of the following:
     9    1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    10    2. Significant increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to
    11  providing  personal  protective equipment to employees or purchasing and
    12  installing other protective equipment to  prevent  the  transmission  of
    13  COVID-19 within the business.
    14    3.  Moving  expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer-
    15  cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another
    16  commercial property during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    17    4. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount  of
    18  their rent payments since March 1, 2020.
    19    To  the  extent  that  the  business has lost revenue or had increased
    20  expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the
    21  start of the COVID-19 pandemic [does] must not fully  make  up  for  the
    22  loss  of revenue or increased expenses, and the business still meets the
    23  aforementioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship.
    24  Signed:
    25  Printed Name:
    26  Date Signed:
    27  NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty  of  law.
    28  That  means  it is against the law to make a statement on this form that
    29  you know is false."
    30    3. Discrimination in credit decisions. Notwithstanding any law to  the
    31  contrary,  lending  institutions  shall not discriminate in the determi-
    32  nation of whether credit should be extended to any owner  of  commercial
    33  real  property as defined in subdivision one of this section because, as
    34  provided for in this act, such owner has been granted a stay of mortgage
    35  foreclosure proceedings, tax foreclosure  proceedings  or  of  tax  lien
    36  sales, or that an owner of commercial real property as defined in subdi-
    37  vision one of this section is currently in arrears and has filed a hard-
    38  ship declaration with such lender.
    39    4.  Prohibition  on negative credit reporting. Notwithstanding any law
    40  to the contrary, as provided for in this act, the granting of a stay  of
    41  mortgage  foreclosure  proceedings,  tax  foreclosure proceedings or tax
    42  lien sales, or that an owner of commercial real property as  defined  in
    43  subdivision  one of this section is currently in arrears and has filed a
    44  hardship declaration with their lender shall not be negatively  reported
    45  to any credit reporting agency.
    46    §  6.  This  act  shall  take  effect on the same date and in the same
    47  manner as a chapter of the laws of 2021, relating  to  establishing  the
    48  "COVID-19  Emergency  Protect  Our  Small  Businesses  Act  of 2021", as
    49  proposed in legislative bills  numbers  S.  471-A  and  A.  3207,  takes
    50  effect;  provided that the amendments to section 1 of part A, sections 1
    51  and 2 of subpart A of part B, sections 1 and 2 of subpart B of  part  B,
    52  and  section 1 of subpart C of part B of a  chapter of the laws of 2021,
    53  relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect    Our    Small
    54  Businesses  Act of  2021",  as proposed  in  legislative  bills  numbers
    55  S.    471-A   and A. 3207, made by sections two, three, four and five of

        A. 7127                             8

     1  this act, respectively, shall not affect the expiration of such sections
     2  and shall be deemed expired therewith.
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